“The mission was a grand success,” said Radhakrishnan, adding that the string of successes proved to the international community the reliability and cost effectiveness of the vehicle.

The PSLV-C16, launched at 10.12 am from the first launch pad, met all critical parameters and placed the satellites in their precise orbits, prompting the scientists to claim that the mission worked like clockwork.

PSLV-C16 launched RESOURCESAT-2, YOUTHSAT and X-SAT satellites. RESOURCESAT-2 built by ISRO – the primary satellite is an advanced remote sensing satellite weighing 1206 kg for facilitating the study and management of natural resources.

YOUTHSAT weighing 92 kg is a joint Indo-Russian satellite for stellar and atmospheric studies. X-SAT weighing 106 kg is a microsatellite for imaging applications built by Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore.

All the three satellites are functioning “extremely well” according to Dr T. K. Alex, Director, ISRO Satellite Centre, and the solar panels have been deployed successfully.

The stage is set for the launch on Wednesday of the Indian Space Research Organisation’s workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) for placing into orbit the country’s 16th remote sensing satellite, Oceansat-2, and six European nano satellites.
The 960 kg Oceansat-2 will be ejected into a sun-synchronous orbit 720 km above the earth and its moving coverage strip will be able to scan the entire planet.

The orbit is designed in such a way that the satellite will cross Equator at 12 noon near India.

A global leader in remote sensing data, India has so far launched 15 remote sensing satellites, of which nine are still in operation.

Oceansat-1, launched in 1999, is still in service but will slowly go into oblivion.

According to Satish, Oceansat-2 has a design life of five years and may outlive this like its earlier version.

Apart from the ISRO-developed 76 kg Ocean Colour Monitor (OCM) and a Ku-band pencil beam Scatterometer, the satellite will also have a Radio Occultation Sounder for Atmospheric Studies (ROSA) developed by the Italian Space Agency.

The Scatterometer, with a ground resolution of 50 km x 50 km, is expected to provide accurate information on wind speed and direction.

The eight-band OCM, with a 360-metre spatial resolution and a swath of 1,420 km, will provide information about a particular area every two days.

According to Satish, ISRO would earn an unspecified amount of dollars as the carriage fee from the European owners of the six nano satellites piggy backing on Oceansat-2.